


Xehanort wants Balance? Here it is

by 13Shadowpixies



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Crack Treated Seriously, I'm adding Ariel because she always wanted to go to other worlds and Soras like why not?, Misuse of Keyblades to save the Universe, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Plot? What Plot?, Princesses and Villains working together
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:28:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27338713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/13Shadowpixies/pseuds/13Shadowpixies
Summary: Post KH3 Sora wakes up the night before the storm, 14 again. He has one day to catch up Riku and Kairi.  Then the real fun happens.One plan against Xehanort? Having both Princesses AND villains work together... and giving them both Keyblades after.
Comments: 42
Kudos: 41





	1. Setting the Stage

**Author's Note:**

> This was an idea I had for a while. Also, I was tired of going over old fics. So, here's something new!
> 
> This is just a pure shameless excuse to see what happens for this scenario. Chapter 1 is simply the set-up. This is my first attempt at a mostly humor fic. I usually do serious.

As Sora lay awake in his old room the night before his island was destroyed, he made plans. (After a well deserved freak out session and a very long session screaming into his pillow.)

Not taking the second chance he was given for granted, he decided on a different approach to the upcoming war.

He tried getting involved before. He was a Keyblade wielder, it was in the job description to keep the balance after all.

But as he thought of everything, he realized that Xehanort was secure in the knowledge that everything was set in stone.

He smirked.

So, that just means he had to be as unpredictable as possible! Shouldn’t be too hard. While not even trying, he heard many enemies say he's a wild card!

But now, he knows the end game. He knows what’s up. He’s done playing dumb. The Organization won't know what hit ‘em!

But how?

It wasn’t until the next day as he saw Kairi in passing in school that he got the answer!

The Princesses! (That, and he was very guilty about this fact, Kairi had no training and was kidnapped repeatedly as a result.) Hmmm…

~/~

“Hey, Riku! Kairi! Can I talk to you for a sec?” Sora called out to them on their way to school. They slowed their pace as Sora caught up to them.

Smiling, they continued on. “So, I was thinking. There are many things wrong with our raft idea.”

“Oh?” Kairi started. “How so?”

“Guys.” Sora deadpanned. “Why are we building a raft when we have actual boats at our disposal?”

Riku and Kairi slowed as they thought about that, they faced each other hoping the other had an answer.

“Also, what do we do when we do get out there? What if we get separated? What do we do? Should we find somewhere to meet up?”

“Those… are good points Sora.” Riku conceded. “What brought this on?”

“I was just trying to find ways to make this easier for us. But I’m also not done. What about defending ourselves? Me and Riku have practice with wooden swords, but what if we’re attacked? Kairi, you rarely join us. What would you do if you get separated from us and have to defend yourself?”

She stared in horror having not thought of that.

“I… I don’t know.”

“Look, I get the whole point of us building the raft is to see other worlds and figure out where Kairi came from, but we need to be smart about this. A lot of things can go wrong.”

Riku crossed his arms. “Ok, then. It looks like you really have put a lot of thought into this. What do you suggest we do?”

“First, what to do if we get separated. Where should we meet up? Second, Self defence. Kairi, you’re joining us for sparring after school, and you will listen to our advice, no buts!” He told her very seriously. She sensed that and nodded. Sora sighed relieved. “Third, and most importantly-” He faced them (mostly Riku). “We’re travelling to other worlds! That means going to new places and meeting a bunch of new people. I want you to make friends! We’ll always have each other, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with making friends outside of each other, ok?” 

He does NOT want Maleficent to sink her claws in Riku again!!!

Startled at Sora’s near pleading, Riku and Kairi faced each other in silent conversation.

Smiling, they faced him again. 

“Ok, you’re right. It would be nice to talk to some else for a change.” Riku teased as Kairi giggled. 

Sora took it with a huge weight off his shoulders. 

~/~

**The Island**

  
  


Needless to say, both Riku and Kairi needed a lot of work!

Honestly, it was really surreal to go from the almighty badass Riku and a confident Kari fighting beside him to…

Well…

Playing with wooden swords as if they were normal non-Keyblade swords.

It was weird.

(Riku and Kairi definitely noticed his strange mood, etc. but thankfully chose not to comment.)

Meanwhile, Sora was stressed, the storm was tonight!

“Sora?” Kairi’s concerned tone snapped him out of it. “Talk to us. Something is clearly wrong. Please, tell us.”

“You really want to know?” Sora crossed his arms with a raised brow.

The duo nodded.

“Okay~. But you might not believe me.” He grumbled. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves. Figuring, why not?

“Okay. Riku. Kairi. I’m actually 16 years old, I use a weapon called a Keyblade to fight creatures of darkness called Heartless and Nobodies. And more recently, Unversed. There's a storm tonight that destroyed our home. Riku here somehow opens a portal where he, ironically, wakes up on YOUR home world, Kairi. By the way, it's called Radiant Garden."

"Wait, what?!"

"Yup! But then a crazy old man named Master Xehanort started an interplanetary invasion that started there and left it in ruins and the residents scattered. Basically when you came here, Kairi. It was later renamed Hollow Bastion. Anyway!"

Meanwhile, Kairi was left reeling from that.

"After the storm happened, we got separated."

"That's why you brought it up earlier!" Riku jumped in trying to keep up. Sora nodded.

"You wound up there, I woke in Traverse Town and Kairi went missing.. it turns out your heart was literally inside mine while your body went comatose. Long story." He cut her off as she was opening her mouth. "Anyway, a crazy witch named Maleficent manipulated you into thinking I replaced you with new friends." He glared at Riku. Said boy's eyes widened catching on. "You also accused me of not caring what happened to Kairi here!"

"W-wait, I-!"

"Moving on! After that a whole bunch of stuff happened which eventually led to me waking up here last night in my younger body. I'm not kidding when I say it's a long story."

"Right…" Kairi mumbled.

Sora felt a little bad for overwhelming them. But that wasn't even a fraction of the story!

"Guys, look… I'm sorry for overwhelming you, but I'm a little stressed. That storm is tonight. It destroyed this place and I really don't want things to repeat themselves." He begged them to understand. 

"Let's say you're right, start with this. Can you show us this Keyblade?" If its anything like Terra's when he was a kid, then Sora's telling the truth. This is way out of character for his friend.

Sora smiled and held out his hand.

In a flash, the Kingdom Key appeared.

Kairi stared in wonder, while Riku stared in dread.

Sora really was from the future.

Sighing, Riku faced him.

"I believe you. Can me and Kairi wield it, or just you?"

Sora grinned. "Both of you can! In fact, this will be such a relief for me! Here!"

The next few hours until sunset was Sora giving them both a crash course on how to use it.

And also, the two took to being sounding boards to Sora trying to one up a clearly senile old man.

There was much giggling and laughing at the more outlandish plans and pranks.

But there was something Kairi took seriously. It was her role as a princess.

And Xehanorts obsession with balance.

"Hey, Sora?"

"Hm?"

"Why not teach the other Princess of Heart to use Keyblades? If I can, they might as well right? And… what if you asked their respective bad guys to train them? To mix things up further?"

That got his attention. 

A slow grin formed on his face.

"Thats brilliant Kairi! Two birds with one stone!"

At this point Riku had to cut in. "How are you going to convince them? Do we even know if they can use a Keyblade?" 

Sora crossed his arms in thought. Then, he had an idea. "Aqua!"

"Who?" They both asked.

"Aqua! She was one of the three missing Keyblade Masters that vanished 10 years ago! Aqua, Terra and Ventus! Aqua is currently in the realm of Darkness. Terra is currently the giant Heartless that hangs around another Heartless calling himself Ansem, Seeker of Darkness. And Venus is stuck in Castle Oblivion. Formerly the Land of Departure where they actually trained. His heart is currently fused with mine since I was a baby to help him heal." He then sees their horrified faces and winced. 

"Yeah..anyway, we can work with that. Aqua should actually be the easiest. Riku, when we seal the doors to Kingdom Hearts, she was right there in that area with you. If you get stuck there again, just run to her side! Before, we had no idea and she eventually fell to dispare thinking no one was going to rescue her. Find her and just tell her whats up, the rest will go much smoother. Or we can literally drag her through the door if we have to. We'll just meet you at Castle Oblivion anyway."

"Right…" Riku rubbed his head. "I get that we have to rescue them, but what does she have to do with giving away Keyblades?"

"Simple! They taught her how to pass them on to successors! The plan is simple. Kairi. With you trying with the other princesses, it will make things so much harder for Xehanort! The princesses old and new were his back up plan to start another war. By teaching you to defend yourselves-"

"We'll be harder to kidnap, harder to manipulate. And the villans?"

Sora's grin screamed mischief.

"He wants balance? You can't get more balanced out than 7 women with pure light and their villains with a lot of darkness at their disposal. Also, bragging rights."

"Bragging rights?" This time Riku raised a brow, amused.

"Yup! Bragging rights. How many bad guys can say they have an all powerful weapon handed to them and told to have fun with it?" He put his hands behind his head with a grin.

Riku facepalmed. Kairi simply shook her head. He's right though.

"Right...can you explain what you want us to do tonight again?" She asked exasperated. 

  
  



	2. A Long Story

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sora teaches Riku and Kairi on the job, catching up with the soon-to-be Restoration Committee, and Sora gets his own ship!

Through a combination of stubbornness, sheer force of will, a sprinkle of a Sora ex Machina, and a threat of rope or handcuffs to both of them if they  _ dared  _ to leave his side…

Sora literally sagged in relief at waking up in Traverse Town (via Pluto jumping on him) with Riku and Kairi beside him.

Wait…

Kairi better not have lost her heart again!

She groaned as she woke to Pluto licking her cheek.

“Whew! Nice! We’re here! We’re ok.” He then leapt to his feet and raised a fist to the air. “Let’s do this!” He cheered as Riku groaned awake with Pluto jumping on him too. Kairi giggled at the sight as Riku glared at her.

Putting his hands behind his head as he faced his friends. The groggy duo finally noticed their surroundings.

“Sora..?” Kairi whispered, helping Riku stand.

“Is this…” Riku looked around in wonder.

“We are now in another world!” He lowered his arms and dramatically gestured to the alleyway exit to the front of the accessory shop. “Welcome to Traverse Town!”

They cheered and ran ahead with a chuckling Sora behind them.

Smiling at the blissfully ignorant duo, Sora faltered as a few tears fell down his cheek.

“Sora?” Of course Riku noticed. “What’s wrong?”

Sora shook his head. He grinned a watery grin. “Nothing! I’m just really happy! We’re actually doing this. Seeing and exploring other worlds! Together too!” And the tears started falling.

Riku quickly pulled him into a hug followed by Kairi.

“We’re not going anywhere. Besides, even if we did, you know all our hiding spots by now, huh?” Riku teased.

Sora snorted and gave a weak laugh. “Yeah… I do, huh?” 

“There he is. Wipe those tears! Aren’t you supposed to be our tour guide?”

“Ha! That’s right.” Sora smiled at the subject change.

“Lead the way!” Kairi grinned.

“Right!” Sora wiped his tears and took a moment to collect himself. “First things first! In the future, through Maleficent, Riku learned how to make portals between worlds via the Corridors of Darkness. That’s not a good idea without protection. Kairi can come and go no problem due to her lack of darkness, but I can’t. So, for now, the next best thing are Gummi Ships.”

“Gummi Ships?” She was curious about the ‘Gummi’ part.

“Gummi ships were how I traveled between worlds with Donald and Goofy. If you want to get anywhere safely, you need one. Good news is, I know a guy.” He grinned, turned right around and walked into the Accessory Shop (Once again, just missing Donald and Goofy)...

**20 minutes later**

Riku and Kairi were very entertained watching Sora negotiate with a flabbergasted Cid. 

Sora even had to resort to whipping out his Keyblade to prove to Cid that he could handle it.

Sora was not amused when Cid threw in a few random questions for laughs, not expecting Sora to know all the answers. The only reason it was 20 minutes was because Kairi stopped the debate before the two geeked out over various designs and which parts were better where.

Finally, Sora convinced him to help. Now, all Sora needed was the Munny to pay for it. Sora paid it no mind and told Cid they’d be back in a few hours with the money.

**2nd District**

Sora vaguely remembered watching someone lose their heart after walking through the door, and was relieved to see that same guy running to the door.

Seeing the Soldier Heartless, Sora simply Strike Raided the thing to Riku and Kairi’s shock.

Judging from Sora’s face when he briefly looked back it was something he prevented. They let it be.

After ensuring the guy made it safely back into the 1st District, Sora whipped around to face them.

“All right, you heard Cid! We need munny.”

“I highly doubt anyone’s hiring at this time of night.” Riku drawled.

Sora simply pointed to where the Heartless was. As well as the half dozen Shadows that just surrounded them.

“Wait what?” There were Munny, HP and MP orbs on the ground. Sora grinned.

Casting Thunder distractedly, he wiped out the Shadows easily.

“The Heartless are constantly drawn to the Keyblade because it's the only weapon out there that can actually take them out. They have Munny. So~ We’ll never be broke.” He grinned and then turned to jump on the fountain railing and double jumped right in the middle of the below area.

“Sora!” Kairi screamed, surprised at how far he jumped without hurting himself.

“Watch and learn guys!” Sora grinned playfully.

As the Heartless portaled in surrounding him, Sora quickly strategized.

He wasn’t wearing either version of the clothes Yen Sid or the Fairies gave him, so no Drive Forms. The Keyblade Transformations were unrelated, so he had that. Maybe. He can do Thunder, but what about other spells?

Now time for a field test.

He started off with weaker spells and worked his way up. Simple moves of swordplay getting more elaborate.

Meanwhile Riku and Kairi were gawking at their friend. Simply stupefied at the clear progression to see what he can do at this point in time.

And judging from the joyful laughter, it looks like he's able to do more than he thought.

“He really is from the future.” She whispered with a smile. “I know he told us, but I guess its only now sinking in. There’s no way he was capable of this a few days ago. Right Riku?”

“Yeah…” Riku smiled, Sora’s cheer contagious. “So, I guess all we can do is do as he says. I don’t know about you, but the future he came from seems more bleak than he let on.”

She sighed and turned back to her friend below, now dancing among the Heartless, seeming to now show off a little. She giggled at his antics before nodding in agreement with Riku.

**Near 2 hours later**

Now that Sora feels comfortable with what he can and can’t do, he’s a bit peeved that he has to collect more Keychains since he slapped himself by realizing he still just has his default Keychain. Anyway, still better than expected.

After the first half hour of this, the rest was getting Riku and Kairi some hands on practice. Sora made sure they started small with Shadows and Soldiers, gradually working their way up as he took on the Fat Armors etc.

Meanwhile, Kairi had a newfound respect for why Sora and Riku always sparred.

After a while, Sora claimed enough was enough and his friends found the nearest bench to collapse on. Riku glared at Sora for not even breaking a sweat.

While they rested, Sora counted up the munny and found quadruples of what they needed. Grinning, he divided it up, putting aside what was needed for the Gummi ship parts and a bit extra just in case, he evenly split the rest and gave it to them.

“Wait to go shopping, I’ll help you with figuring out the essentials, but you need to learn as you go, ok?”

Nodding in agreement, they made their way back to the 1st District.

“They’ll come at you out of nowhere.” Leon’s voice causes them to slow their pace and face him. “And they’ll keep coming after you, so long as you continue to wield the Keyblade.”

Sora smiles.

“Hey Leon, Cid mentioned you. You’re from Hollow Bastion right?”

Behind him, Kairi perked up.

“Indeed, what of it?”

“My friend Kairi, here is also from there. She came to our world at a young age and doesn't remember much. I was hoping either you or Yuffie can help her out, please.”

“I see... I don’t know how much I can help with that, but Yuffie and Aerith, another friend of mine, and definitely answer for you.”

“Thank you so much!” Kairi stepped forward gratefully. Clearly trusting him due to Sora’s stories. “As for the Keyblades, we are well aware. Sora here has previous experience with it and is showing us how to use them.”

“I see. In that case, I’ll leave you to it. I’ll see if I can find Yuffie and Aerith, they’ll help you out.”

“Actually, Leon?” Sora started as the man turned to walk away. “I could actually use all of you and Cid for help with something. Can you have them meet us here please? What I have to tell you is important. Also, there's two other people wandering around named Donald and Goofy, they need to hear this as well.”

“I see. In that case, I’ll see what I can do. What are you going to do in the meantime?”

“Haggling with Cid on building a ship so we can properly start traveling soon.” He grinned.

Leon looked amused before walking off and waving goodbye.

Back in the Accessory Shop, it took a while, Riku and Kairi did their best to pay attention, but it was too much information. Sora took pity on them and suggested they go rest on the couches by the fire. They gratefully did so.

As Sora and Cid did their thing, Kairi gushed to Riku about whatever Yuffie and Aerith will hopefully tell her.

Eventually their guests arrived.

Fortunately Aerith had already bumped into Donald and Goofy, so that saved a lot of time.

To start, Sora just jumped right in and held out his arm to summon the Keyblade.

“You found it! Nice going Leon!” Yuffie grinned.

“THE KEY!!” Donald and Goofy leaned forward in surprise.

“Now that I have your attention, My name is Sora. This is Riku and Kairi. I hope you guys are comfy because this will be a long story.”

They all looked at each other and Jiminy jumped on the table and pulled out his journal to start writing.

Sora grinned.

**A few hours later…**

It was late and everyone was tired. 

The number of times Sora, Riku and Kairi were ambushed into a hug were countless. Sora himself was squished between a  _ still  _ terrified Riku and Kairi.

As the others talked, Sora eventually had to take the reins again before sleep claimed him.

“So, here’s the plan I came up with.” He started and the others quieted. “Please offer suggestions, but this is what I have so far.” He waited for them to nod in acknowledgement.

“First, Master Xehanort's endgame is to use Kingdom Hearts to start another Keyblade war. The point was to balance out the forces of Light and Darkness because he believed there was too much Light. In order to do that he had two plans should one fail. 1) the original X-Blade was split into 20 pieces: 7 Light and 13 Darkness. In my timeline he used the 7 Princesses, including Kairi to open the Final Keyhole found in Hollow Bastion. The other was having 13 Vessels that either held some significance to something in history or the rest were a piece of him or a dark version of someone else. And the 7 Guardians of light were the collected and rescued group of Keyblade wielders.” He paused to make sure he didn’t lose anyone.

“So, one plan I had was basically two birds with one stone: the Princesses. Kairi?”

She perked up and explained her idea.

Needless to say they were very skeptical.

“Hey, he wants Balance so bad, why not? Also, its other Keyblade wielders out there fighting Heartless and sealing Keyholes. I’m only one person and I had other priorities remember?”

They mumbled in agreement about that.

“We need help.” He deadpanned. “Through our actions, Kairi here was repeatedly kidnapped and used against me. By having her train with the other Princesses, it will make things very unpredictable for Master Xehanort who is so very comfortable with how predictable everything is. While they are getting trained, we can focus on other things that were neglected. Like rescuing Aqua, restoring Ven’s Heart and freeing Terra. By changing things up, we're already removing a bunch of players and changing the rules.” He grinned.

Needless to say, it took ironing out the details to get them to agree to this plan.

So they set it up into phases:

  1. Sora and Kairi will set off to Hollow Bastion to convince Maleficent and co. She’ll be easy once it's revealed she was just a pawn to Xehanort.
  2. Riku will go with Donald and Goofy. Why? Riku really needed to lighten up and make some new friends and experiences. (Did Sora feel guilty of sic'ing Donald and Goofy onto his grumpy stubborn friend. Not. One. Bit.)
  3. The re-named Restoration committee will get a jump start on restoring Hollow Bastion by going over what Sora remembered (They made a mental note to teach Sora how to use computers…)



Basically everything else can wait, now that they know about the organization, Axel/Lea, etc.

They have time to plan.

And so, the next day, they set out. It’ll take a bit for Cid to put a ship together, so Sora dragged Riku and Kairi to go shopping for supplies and explained what everything does. Sora took great amusement of the triplets messing with Riku. 

Clothes wise, they were okay for now, but Kairi’s crocs had to go. They were quickly switched with sneakers of similar coloring.

With the ship done (A/N- Insert any ship you made here!) Sora explained to Riku how the controls worked on the  _ Kingdom _ , as well as mentally thanking Cid for having the foresight to install the communicators on both ships. The Gummi phone hasn’t been invented yet…

Once satisfied Riku can grasp the basics, Sora did the same with Kairi on their ship. Using the same method as the 2nd District, Sora let Riku and Kairi try the small fry and walked them through some simple maneuvers. The harder ones, Sora quickly took over until it was safe.

Sora remained oblivious to the awestruck stares of everyone else with how easily he maneuvered and decimated the enemy ships.

Sora decided to divide and conquer. Sora and Kairi took  _ Wonderland  _ to get Alice, while he sent the others to  _ Deep Jungle _ as a good starter world for Riku. No way was he sending Riku to  _ Olympus  _ off the bat!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized I poorly explained 2nd district. Just picture the trio playing hot potato with the Keyblade since Riku didn't get his and Sora forgot Kairi’s lucky charm to make Oathkeeper, lol


	3. Wonderful Butterflies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wonderland and Deep Jungle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Brief, but I'm typing this on my phone due to no internet at home... Google Drive is my savior!
> 
> Anyway, I'm in a dilemma: In kh1, we fight Maleficent at Hollow Bastion and she turns into a dragon and then vanishes. I want to keep her around. My problem, according to Union X she goes to the past then back to the future.
> 
> What should I do???

As Sora and Kairi doubled back to Wonderland after dropping off Riku. She couldn’t help but wonder.

“Sora? How come we’re not going to Hollow Bastion to see Maleficent? Why the rush to Wonderland?”

“Its because, what happened to Alice is all about timing. When me, Donald and Goofy originally arrived, they had her on trial before the queen in a bizarre sort of court. The queen blamed her for the Heartless assaulting her and tried to have her executed.”

“WHAT?”

“Exactly. If that wasn’t the case, I’d have no problem with us going by the plan normally. I even gave Riku my Keyblade to practice with because there’s still plenty I can do without it.”

“I see. Is there anything I can do to help?”

“In this situation, no. The queen is just outright insane; it's a headache reasoning with her. Basically, I’m just going to kidnap Alice myself, explain what’s going on and go from there. Actually, there is something you can do.”

Mind whirling about the mad queen, she perked up on something she can do.

“Remember how the communicator works?” A nod. “Good. This button is the teleporter. How we get on and off the ship. When I give the signal, I want you to beam us up. Together or separately. But always her first. When she gets here, can you calm her down?”

She nodded eagerly. But, he just-

“And Kairi… I’m not putting you on the sidelines. The queen really is nuts. I’d feel more comfortable with you getting more practice in than just diving right in like I did. The only reason I let Riku go is because Donald and Goofy learned just as I did. They experienced everything with me. With you, it’s different.” He turned to look her in the eyes.

“The entire point of this is so you and the other Princesses aren’t defenceless. The amount of times you were taken and unable to do anything is…” He closed his eyes. He still can’t unsee her dying by Xehanort's hand.

“It’ll be okay. I’ll work hard so it won’t happen again. And if it does, I don’t want you to worry about me. I’ll be ok.” She tried to reassure him. He did give a small smile though. “What about Riku, what will he do? I take it there’s a reason you sent him with Donald and Goofy?” She teased.

His smile turned into a smirk.

“Well… You see he’s just _so_ stubborn, and in the future, he’s so _serious_ .” He started to dramatically act out different faces. She started to giggle at his antics. “He really needed to lighten up. After all, ‘ _This boat runs on happy faces_ ’!” He jerked his thumb in the general direction they left the _Kingdom_.

“Sora!” She shrieked through her laughter.

“And you can't get much more silly than Donald and Goofy.” He grinned. “I almost feel bad for him. Almost.”

She hit his head but kept laughing.

~/~

After Sora beamed down, she was alone on the ship.

She stood there, gazing out into the stars.

Eventually, she hugged herself and allowed herself to cry.

~/~

**Deep Jungle**

Meanwhile, Riku was arguing with Donald about directions. In his defence, he is still reeling about the fact that his friend is a war hero from the future who literally died and woke up two days ago. And then to learn about his side of the story…

Well.

He’s definitely avoiding Maleficent like the plague! Don’t even get him started on Ansem…

He does feel guilty taking it out on Donald.

Now if only this giant cat would stop chasing them!! Is he supposed to use the Keyblade? 

A gun shot rang out, scaring said cat away.

Oh, yeah, he looks suspicious…

...circus of clowns!?

~/~

**Wonderland**

Soon after landing, Sora had a sneaking suspicion that Riku was nearing his breaking point.

He shrugged, at least he didn't crash the ship or arrive after arguing with Donald!

Anyway.

Alice.

Taking a moment to enjoy laying down and slowly falling. He looked up to see various pieces of furniture stuck to the walls or just floating.

Chuckling, Wonderland was always a strange place. 

Doing a flip, he landed with far more grace than last time.

Now where's-

Que the hysterical White Rabbit screaming about how late he was.

Bingo.

Bypassing the talking Keyhole (making a mental note to come back for it) he continued on. He went to the table and drank the potion to shrink. He continued on.

As he approached the court, the Cards parted.

"Court is now in session!" The White Rabbit declared.

"I'm on trial? But why?" Alice herself questioned.

"Her Majesty, the Queen of Hearts presiding!"

"This girl is the culprit! There's no doubt about it!" She banged her fists on the table before her. "And the reason is, because I say so that's why!"

"That is so unfair!"

"Well have you anything to say in your defence?"

"Of course!" Alice countered pointing to the queen. "I have done absolutely nothing wrong!" She then crossed her arms. "You may be queen, but I'm afraid that doesn't give you the right to be so… so mean!"

"Silence! You dare defy me?!"

Honestly, if he wasn't scared for her, he'd be enjoying this show!

"The court finds the defendant… guilty as charged! For the crimes of assaulting and attempted theft of my heart!"

"No no! Oh please!" 

And thats my cue.

"Hold it right there!" I calmly charged in beside Alice.

"Who are you? How dare you interfere with my court!" The queen screamed in outrage.

"Names Sora. I'm here to tell you she's not the one you're looking for."

"Thats nonsense. Do you have any proof?"

It was nonsense trying to _find_ said proof!

I simply crossed my arms. "Do _you_ have proof it was Alice?" I countered. "After all, someone assaulted you, I'd be hard pressed to forget something like that. Or... is it simply that you are unable to capture the real culprit, that you went after someone you _can_ to save face?"

She twitched. "You…! You-!"

"I rest my case. Alice is innocent." I grinned and winked to said girl. She looked very relieved. Facing the queen again, I started to walk off the podium. "Well be on our way. Come on Alice." 

Nodding, she followed. 

The queen then ordered the cards to "Off with their heads!"

One moment we were surrounded, the next we were on the ship.

"Thanks, Kairi!"

Alice just looked around in confused wonder.

~\~

Back In Deep Jungle, Goofy was off to the side with Jiminy. 

Arms crossed, he observed Riku.

Just last night, he learned of everything that happened for the next two years. 

It should be Sora here, not Riku.

But…

Sora's right as well.

Riku does need help. Sora is holding the burden of outsmarting a formidable foe comforted by a predictable series events to bring about another war.

He and Donald were there with Aqua at Yen Sids before the last one.

He's not dumb. He wouldn't be captain of the royal guards if he was. And, according to Sora, he even was the one to notice things even the rest missed. 

Earlier, Sora pulled him and Donald aside to explain why Riku is with them. 

Riku went through a lot of trauma, and was constantly battling Ansems' Darkness as well as his own. 

Sora just wants Riku to smile more. To not feel like he's no longer Sora's best friend (which Maleficent definitely took advantage of when Sora joined their group). Sora wanted to encourage Riku making new friends and experiences. 

Sora even took the time last night to write down brief descriptions of each world they went to last time in the event Sora is unavailable for a while. So they can pick and choose to give them all the best course to both train with the Keyblade, but also personal experiences with the friends he made last time.

Thankfully, Sora asked Chip n Dale to work on the Gummi Phones in their spare time.

Sora is truly looking out for them.

Sora asked him and Donald to be there for him like they were for him.

Donald was still skeptical over the whole thing, but he readily agreed. He may have just met them, but the look on Sora's face as he told his story couldn't be faked.

The journal said not to trust Clayton as well as the Keyhole location. Also a few symbols equaling to "heart" "friends in our heart." Whatever that means. But its part of this world's summary, so he'll find out eventually.

  
  



	4. Gummi Blocked

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aftermath, Keychains and ships that can fly!! (Alice turning into a gearhead fascinated by these flying ships.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally finished binge watching Star Wars: Clone Wars! Omg I can't stop crying ahhh! Now, I'm gonna start Rebels! Wish me luck!

**Alice POV**

Curious and curiouser.

As I lay dazed upon the... _Gummi Ship_ , I could not help my curiosity. A ship that can fly among the stars! 

Oh! If only my father were here! Just on the other side of the glass are the stars themselves! Flitting about past them as they sailed onwards!

But that just reminded her of her current predicament.

After traversing the strange world _Wonderland_ , on accident mind you, she believed them. About other worlds. It is hard to ignore as you watch them fly past you. 

But that's not the predicament.

After I arrived with Sora, he had to go back. Something about ‘sealing the Keyhole’ and retrieving this… ‘Navi-G gummi’ from within. Apparently he needs two to go to the next set of worlds. He returned several minutes later with this strangely shaped red block with smaller multi-colored blocks embedded in it. 

He also seemed really happy to find a random Keychain for some reason. 

After, he explained the situation to me.

No, the problem is that she, Kairi and five other girls are targeted for nefarious purposes! She was to be kidnapped! _Kidnapped_!

Oh what would her parents say!

This strange boy, Sora, tasked himself with gathering up these girls to train them to defend themselves. 

With the very people _originally_ meant to kidnap them! And Kairi was in total agreement! Judging from their interactions, they appeared to be old friends.

I shall refrain judgement until the rest of the girls are gathered. I will discuss this matter with them.

Sora spent my time in a daze appearing to contact a friend of his. This Riku fellow. They also found a matching red block Sora came back with. 

Sora asked for their block to fuse with his so they could continue on. Sora bid them to go to the next world in the area, _Olympus Coliseum_ , and find Phill. But first Sora has to go to them to retrieve this other block.

Oh! To see another flying ship! What must this one look like from the outside?

In the meantime, she has the wonderful opportunity to learn how to _fly_ this ship!! 

Well… she’s watching as Sora teaches Kairi, anyway. Still!

As they await their friends, the discussion goes to the girls again. 

There’s currently herself and Kairi. But there’s also: Jasmine, Cinderella, Snow White, Aurora and Belle. As far as Sora was aware, he knows Jasmine is still on her world and at some point Belle was taken and this Beast followed to rescue her! A Beast!

Sora was quick to reassure them that Beast was, is, and always will be, a dear friend of his. Even if they hadn’t met yet… Oh bother. Right, he’s from the future! Oh dear.

By the time Sora figured out their plans for them, they were all already gathered. So, that meant, he had to resign himself to the kidnappers with finding the rest of the girls.

He seemed stressed. Understandable, but still.

Judging by Kairi’s expressions, he’s gone through a great deal already and is riding a lot of things on this plan of his.

I hope whatever it is concerning us defending ourselves, works. 

It feels wrong, seeing him so sad and stressed.

~/~

**The Kingdom**

“That’s it Riku. Slow and steady.” Goofy encouraged the boy. Riku was trying again at flying, but taking it slow. Goofy stood behind the chair Riku sat, while Donald was on his own watching them.

Gazing out the window, Sora’s ship was getting bigger in its approach. There looked like another person with them. Looking through the notebook, it must be Alice. 

When Sora comm’d them to explain the Navi- G Gummi’s Donald reluctantly agreed. They could always find more now that they know where to look. But Sora was on a tight schedule to get these girls trained.

Sora and Kairi were excited about Riku’s adventures causing him to blush in embarrassment.

Sora stood and looked at Riku in the eye.

“I’m proud of you Riku.” (Donald and Goofy laughed at how red Riku’s face got!)

“Th-thanks Sora!” Riku beamed and playfully shoved Goofy away. (Alice and Kairi giggled.) “So what now?”

“Now, you go to Olympus to find Phil. It should be the next world you come across heading back to Traverse Town. Ask him to help train you for the Games. Don’t fret if you don’t get a ticket. Hades came out of nowhere for me and just handed me one.” Sora rolled his eyes at how dumb his younger self was. “The only problem I had was fighting Hades and his three headed-dog, Cerberus. I found out later that Hercules basically tired him out by the time we got there so it was a relatively easy win.”

Riku just stared. He’s trying to figure out what counted as an easy win for Sora… would be easy for him.

Three headed dog?!

“Uh…” He started.

“Don’t worry! With Donald and Goofy at your side, you can do anything! Trust me, these battles are easy compared to later on!”

Easy? Easy?!

Fighting Heartless ‘small-fry’ on two worlds, a giant invisible lizard thing, a poacher trying to literally hunt him down and now a three headed dog and the lord of the DEAD-!

Easy?!

He’s still out of breath from fighting Clayton!

Just _what_ did Sora, Donald and Goofy go through?!

No no no no. Wait. Correction. What did HE go through that made Sora think he could handle it? Oh, that’s right. 

Xehanort/Ansem Seeker of Darkness and Maleficent.

According to Sora, he went through much worse. The awe on Sora’s face talking about his future counterpart in Traverse Town spoke volumes on how powerful he becomes.

Sitting back in his chair, he hysterically mused. Sora’s right. 

These were easy compared to later on.

“Yes, you’re right. We also need to catch up to you. More practice for the long run.”

Sora nodded.

A small smile graced his lips. Sora’s proud of him. He has such high expectations of him from everything they went through together in the future.

Except…

Now, Sora’s trying so hard to change his and Kairi’s fate. She had no training and was constantly kidnapped for one reason or another. And him? Ansem and Maleficent played him for an idiot! He went down a very dark path because of them!

Sora’s proud of him. He’ll do whatever it takes to keep making Sora proud. And if traveling with Donald and Goofy means he’ll take a weight off Sora’s shoulder then so be it. Sora has enough problems to fix.

“Good! Oh! Before I forget!”

He held out his hand and the Kingdom Key appeared in his palm.

“Did you need it back?” Riku asked.

“You’ll see!” 

Then he detached the Keychain and attached the one from Wonderland, making Lady Luck appear.

“I have a Keychain too!” Riku held out his _Jungle King_ keychain. Sora grinned.

“Alright! These are Keyblades.” He showed Alice, letting her get a good look at it. “Keyblades change shape and style depending on the wielder. Keychains form through the experiences you make off world. Keychains, like this one, change it to represent those changes. They also provide various boons and tricks to help you the more you travel. The one you saw before was my own personal default Keyblade for me. Both Riku’s and Kairi had their own style blades as well. Also, this now means we no longer have to share!” Grinning, he held out his other hand and the _Kingdom Key_ appeared. He held out the _Kingdom Key_ to Riku who got the hint.

Holding out his hand, Riku summoned it to his open palm.

He then switched it out for his _Jungle King_ , marveling at its appearance. The _Kingdom Key_ went back to Sora’s hand and he held out _Lady Luck_ to Kairi. She gasped and smiled, slowly reaching out for it.

“Lady Luck here came from Wonderland. Making it technically Alice’s Keyblade. Riku’s is called Jungle King from Deep Jungle. When we get another Keychain, this one will be given to Alice until we get one for Kairi. Riku! Just keep collecting Keychains. The more worlds you go to, the more you’ll collect!”

Riku nodded in understanding.

Alice was mystified of the weapon that represented Wonderland, her! That Keyblade would soon be hers to use. Kairi smiled in encouragement.

Sora then stood straight, back to business.

“Once I install the Navi- G Gummi’s to my ship I’m going to continue on, I know Jasmine's world is on the way. So, I’ll pick her up along the way. Also, there's another in a world in the same area I want to pick up too, who's not a Princess.”

“Who?” Everyone asked at once.

Sora startled, but continued. “Her name is Ariel. She’s a mermaid on Atlantica. When me, Donald and Goofy first met her, she wanted to travel to other worlds. Ursula the sea witch, another of Maleficent's group, tried to trick her by using that against her. She was a good friend of mine and really helped me out a lot. I’d like to let her join the other princesses too for I could easily see her as a regular Keyblade wielder anyway.”

“A mermaid!” Alice asked in wonder. Sora looked at her with a smile.

“Yes. As a Keyblade wielder, I learned from Donald about spells to help disguise us as we travel from world to world. You’d be surprised at what appearances you would take.” He grinned.

The girls grinned at each other. And Donald nodded, showing he does know that spell.

“I’m going to use it on her to give her legs. Hmm I should probably find some clothes for her while I’m at it.” He started mumbling as he planned out his resupply at Traverse Town.

Goofy cleared his throat. Sora blushed and scratched his cheek. “Sorry.”

Clearing his throat, he continued. “Well, anyway. She had a lot of potential and I want to work with that. I figured the same training with the Princesses would work.”

“Sora!” Kairi spoke up with a giggle. “You don't have to explain yourself to us. If you believe she could help, even as a regular Keyblade wielder, I have no problems training with her. The more help the better.”

“Kairi, thank you.” He smiled.

Riku shook his head fondly. “Hey Sora!”

“Hm?”

“Should I be jealous? Aren’t you getting a little too cozy with all these girls?”

“What?! Wait, no! It’s not-!” Sora’s embarrassment fell on deaf ears as the two groups laughed.

~/~

**Traverse Town**

Alice and Kairi walked hand in hand ahead of Sora. Kairi was pointing out various things for the ever-curious Alice.

During their short flight, he learned how Alice soaked up information about Gummi-Ships like a sponge. He could work with that.

Lifting up Alice to sit on the counter, she watched Sora and Cid geek out over Sora’s new collection of parts. Cid patiently explaining what each one does.

It was apparent that her world was behind in tech, but the basics between sailing the seas and sailing in space were the same. They just have to build up her mechanical studies. 

Cid actually looked forward to working with her.

While this was happening, Kairi went off to find Aerith or Yuffie for clothes for Ariel later, going off Sora’s descriptions.

Sora said she was like Aerith in appearance, but needed clothes more to Yuffie’s style for combat. Kairi was tasked with finding a happy middle. Ariel may not be a Princess of Light, but Sora said, she’d make a great Keyblade wielder.

Which sparked a shopping spree of sorts. Kairi knows she can’t splurge her money, but if it helps, she’ll offer what she can. Just something to get Ariel started.

She made sure to find clothes that were adjustable for size. They could always come back later.

Looking back in the general direction of the First District, she smiled as she remembered how happy looked to be teaching Alice about Gummi Ships with Cid.

He looks happy as a teacher. This could be good for him.

Seeing Heartless arrive, she calmly set their bags down and tried to summon _Lady Luck_.

Time for some more practice. Looking back to Aerith and Yuffie, the women nodded.

They have her back.

~/~

On their way back to the first District, The two women waved goodnight and Kairi started her trek behind the Accessory shop. She saw Sora halfway down the ramp staring at an empty alleyway with Alice snoozing on his back.

“Sora?” 

“Hm?”

“What are you looking at?”

“Oh. It’s just. You remember Jiminy Cricket? With Donald and Goofy?”

“Of course!” She whispered. Sora nodded to the empty space.

Some time soon, his family, Geppetto and Pinocchio will build a house here. I remember Pinocchio randomly showing up in the Accessory shop. Later we find him again in a space whale named Monstro.”  
  


She slapped her hand to her mouth so her gasp wouldn’t wake Alice.

“The whale swallowed Geppetto and Pinocchio. When we found them Riku…”

Sora cut himself off. She remained silent, knowing of Riku’s descent to Darkness.

“Anyway, to get them out, we had to get the whale to sneeze them out!”

She snorted and tried to muffle it. He simply started to laugh a little.

“I’m going to send Riku there next. Last time, he hurt Pinocchio in an attempt to save you. To solve the mystery of what happened to you. This time, I want to know what he’d do.”

They stood there in silence as she let that sink in.

Just one more thing her friends went through because of her. Trying to save her.

“I want to know too.”


	5. Olympic Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More Riku POV, working together with Donald and Goofy. A hint of irony but he cant remember why from Sora's stories.
> 
> Atlantica next chapter!

Finally setting sail again, Sora, Alice and Kairi set off. 

With Sora standing behind Kairi as she nervously tries to steer, he calmly walks her through finding the Warp Gate to the next set of worlds.

Taking a steadying breath she steered them straight through it.

Alice, all strapped in, looked amazed at the process, eyes in wonder over the sudden change in scenery. Alighting everything in various hues of blue.

All too soon, it faded away.

The systems updated to their surroundings and uploaded the locations of the nearby worlds.

“First up, Agrabah.” He startled them. “That’s where Jasmine is. It’s also where I met Maleficent for the first time. Who knows, it might be my opportunity to talk to her along with Jafar.” He crossed his arms in thought.

He then turned around to face the girls fully. Should he bring them, or leave them here? He shook his head.

“You two stay here, Maleficent is a wild card, but also dangerous. I’m going to use this opportunity to scope her out.”

Alice nodded eagerly. She was more than ok staying here.

But Kairi felt like she was being benched again, no matter how Sora tried to explain otherwise. She tried to tell herself it won't be for much longer. Grudgingly, she nodded too..

Sora gave her a look that made it seem he understood her thoughts. Sighing, he absently punched in the sequence to teleport him down.

In a flash, he was gone.

~/~

**Agrabah**

Sora appeared in the city, right before Maleficent and Jafar as they talked about finding Jasmine.

Calmly, they turned to face him.

Sora easily spotted Jasmine hiding behind an abandoned market stand. He ignored her, not wanting to give away her hiding spot.

“Hello Maleficent, Jafar.” He nodded to each of them.

“Oh?” She spoke curiously. “You know us?”

“And who might you be?” Jafar played ignorant.

“You can stop the games, I know you’ve been watching me. My name is Sora. And I have a proposition for you.”

The Witch and Royal Vizier shared an intrigued, yet suspicious glance.

“Indeed?” Jafar spoke while stamping his staff to the ground. “And what do you propose?”

Sora turned to Maleficent.

“I’m going to be blunt. I come from two years in the future where I’m almost 17. You Maleficent, are being played a fool by Master Xehanort in your quest to gather the Princesses to make Kingdom Hearts.”

“WHAT?!” The two villains startled.

“If I had not come back to the past, the events would go as follows. You successfully gather the Princesses at Hollow Bastion. My friend Riku becomes possessed by Ansem. Possessed Riku turns around to attack you and turns you into a dragon to kill me. I won and you died. You were nothing but a pawn, like I was.”

She stumbled back in disbelief.

“You return however, a year later going around trying to find a castle to turn into a new base. At some point later, you are just wandering around trying to find something. I never asked, so I don’t know.” Waving off her questions.

“Which brings me here.” The two villains regained their composure momentarily and faced the boy.

“Yes, why are you here? To gloat?” Jafar sneered.

“No, to offer you a deal. Master Xehanort played us all for fools, we were pawns. We learned too late that he had the ability to time travel. He knew of everything to come to pass. In the future, I’m known as a wild card!” He grinned. “Without even trying I threw every plan against me to pieces and won every challenge thrown at me. Without trying, nor knowing the endgame.”

“And now you do.” She stated in dawning realization of the situation being handed to her.

“And now I do.” He agreed. “The plan with the Princesses was merely a backup plan to the actual one. But it also holds a lot of possibilities too. Xehanort wants balance between the forces of Light and Darkness. He was willing to destroy the whole universe to start over from scratch.”

Bombshell dropped.

“Preposterous! I joined to rule! Not to destroy!” She flared out a bit of fire. Jafar was immune to fire and Sora merely sidestepped it.

“Believe me, I know.” Sora smiled. A face she recognized as familiarity. He really did come to know her. “Which brings me back to my deal.”

“I’m listening.” She gripped her own staff.

“The situation is simple. Xehanort is sitting comfy over events supposedly set in stone. I intend to be as unpredictable as possible to mess with him as much as I can.” He grinned putting his hands behind his head. The elder two shook their heads amused.

“So, here’s my offer. I already have both Alice and Kairi with me, Jasmine is here in the city, which leaves the rest of the girls. I want you to continue retrieving the girls and bring them to Hollow Bastion. I want to train each of them as future Keyblade wielders. But I want them to be taught by you and the rest of your villainous team.”

The duo blinked.

“I’m sorry, care to repeat that?” Jafar was stunned. “You WANT us to keep capturing them, let alone train them ourselves?!”

“Yes.” 

She squinted at him. “Why..?”

Sora shrugged. “What can be more unpredictable than 7 pure of heart Princesses being trained by their respective villains…” He trailed with a smirk. “ _ And _ having both Princess and Villain get Keyblades of their own? Xehanort wants balance? Here it is.” He smirked.

Silence. Stunned silence.

Sora simply crossed his arms as they absorbed his offer. Then he turned to face the side. “Hey, Jasmine, you can come out now!”

“What?! She was here the whole time?!” Jafar screeched.

“Yup! What do you think, Princess? Want to be trained to defend yourself? It comes with the perks of traveling to other worlds  _ and  _ annoying a senile old man with dreams of interplanetary domination.”

Neither villain can blame her for her dumbstruck gaze as she stood up from her hiding spot.

~/~

**Olympus**

Riku liked to think he’s getting the hang of this. Fighting with Donald and Goofy. 

In  _ Deep Jungle _ , they were always arguing. The stress of learning the future hanging above them. The feeling that something was off, simply because Riku was here and not Sora.

He’s not Sora, and yet the three of them are adjusting. Donald and Goofy by virtue of never actually fighting with Sora so it was an easy adjustment. For Riku, he’s used to being the top fighter of his age group on the Island.

He’s used to being better than Sora.

But hearing what they both went through, it was humbling, to say the least.

So now, fighting floating pots and crates in an obstacle course, he’s learning. There’s no Heartless to worry about. Just the three of them learning how to read each other. Learning how to fight together.

In a flash, the broken pots vanish to be replaced with new ones.

From what he gathered from Sora, as a Keyblade wielder, he takes point of the more difficult opponents. 

Goofy, with his shield, takes defense. The ones who slip through the cracks. Riku feels a large degree of  _ safety  _ from Goofy.

And Donald as the mage, is the variety. He can both heal as well as do damage with his spells. Through Donald, Riku has learned Fire, Cure, Blizzard and is now testing out Thunder on the various Pots. 

He learned the hard way of Cure draining him faster than the other spells so he has to use it sparingly.

Eventually, Phill called off the pots for a break.

As Phil explained the games, Cloud passed them by.

From what he read in the notebook, he’s trying to find Sephiroth and is currently being manipulated by Hades. 

He’s trying to find the Light.

Riku can relate.

~/~

**Agrabah**

“So? What do you think?” Sora asked the group.

Jasmine looked rightfully suspicious at Jafar and wary at Maleficent.

“The point is being unpredictable?” Jasmine eventually asked.

“Yes. I am going to thoroughly enjoy messing with Master Xehanort after everything he put us all through!”

She chuckled. “Ok, but why Jafar?”

“Jafar knows a lot of magic, politics and manipulation. Maleficent also knows magic, as well as knowledge of other worlds. Oogie Boogie knows gambling and fear. Ursula knows magic and deals, how to manipulate the sea and her surroundings. Captain Hook knows how to fight with swords, can sail a ship and navigate, and has already been traveling to other worlds with his ship. Hades is Lord of the Dead. I’ve dealt with a lot of death in the latter point in my travels for I too had died. The very reason I’m in the past.”

She gasped. “You died?!”

He looked away. “Yeah… I died.”

A deep breath, he continued. “As I said, you can learn a lot from them. You gain knowledge you otherwise wouldn’t have, experience in what’s out there from the opposite point of view, as well as learning how to defend yourselves from others wishing to take advantage of you.”

“I see…” She looked to Jafar and Maleficent. The witch looked stunned at the compliment he gave her. 

The witch faced Sora. “You really wish to go through with this? Am I truly to believe you would give even us a Keyblade?” She gestured between herself and Jafar skeptically.

He shrugged. “Why not? The Keyblades sole purpose is to bring balance to the world. There's no rule against using it for harm so long as there are others to help.”

The witch stood silent, thinking it over.

“This is a lot to process. But I shall think about it and consult the rest. However, I have already the rest of the Princesses barring the ones you claim. They are under my spell that puts them to sleep so they aren't a bother.”

“Of course they are... Shall we meet you at Hollow Bastion then? I have another girl who isn’t a princess I need to gather. Her name is Ariel and she’s on Ursula’s homeworld.”

“Oh?”

“She’s not a Princess of Heart, but by my travels in the future, she was a good friend of mine and only wished to see the outside world. She would’ve made a good Keyblade wielder anyway, so I wanted to include her with the other princesses.”

“Indeed. Very well, we shall wait for your arrival.” Maleficent opened a Dark Portal. “Meet us in the Grand Chapel and we shall discuss this further.” She and Jafar turned and stepped through.

He turned to Jasmine. “Jasmine?”

“Hm? Oh.” She shook her head to clear it.

“I’m sorry for springing this on you. But you would’ve been kidnapped anyway. This way, you and the others will have a fighting chance.”

“I understand. Truly, thank you for helping us.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Are… there really other worlds?”

He grinned.

~/~

**Olympus**

Riku cursed every swear word he knew in his head as he ran around the stadium as these strange dark things kept shooting up from the ground!

Cerberus is HUGE!!!!

How did Sora beat this thing?! Didn’t Hercules tire him out?!

Ok, ok think! The journal said Sora just kept hitting its head to knock it out.

Mentally going over what he’s seen Sora do in Traverse Town, he tried to Strike Raid.

It fell short a few feet.

And~ it got the hell hounds’ attention.

“Uh oh.”

It roared and shot a large fireball at him.

Goofy suddenly appeared in front of him with his shield. The fire fanned around them as a result. Riku had a sudden flash of irony from somewhere. Shaking his head he smiled gratefully at the Captain.

“Thanks!” He huffed. 

Goofy looked back at him. “You ok?”

Familiar enraged screaming found Donald running to their side.

The three-headed dog stopped to stare at them, waiting for them to make a move. How considerate.

Nodding to Goofy, he watched the dog growling at them.

“Okay.. ok. I think I got it.” Riku nodded to himself. “When it starts raising its heads up, get on its back fast and stay there to avoid all those fireballs and things shooting up from the ground! That seems to be its blind spot. Then wait until after it stands up to do that shockwave thing. After, attack its heads! Keep doing that until we knock it out!”

The trio nodded and ran for it.

Phill watched on from the side with a hint of pride. Finally some progress!

~/~

On the ship, Alice and Kairi were nervously excited.

“Oh! I hope he’ll be alright.” Alice stared off in the worlds’ direction.

“He’ll be ok. I know he will.” Kairi reassured. 

Then a flash as Sora and another woman stood beside them. The girls instantly relaxed.

Smiling, he introduced them. “Allow me to introduce Alice of Wonderland and my best friend Kairi. Ladies, meet Princess Jasmine of Agrabah.”

“Hello!” Alice waved.

“Nice to meet you!” Kairi held out her hand and Jasmine shook it with a smile.

“And you as well.”

Then she noticed her new surroundings and gaped.

Alice and Kairi shared a look before giggling.

Sora chuckled.

Alright ladies, next stop is Ariel then we go directly to Hollow Bastion. Sorry, but we’re going to have to start doubling up on seats.” He spoke sheepishly.

“Here, Alice can sit on my lap.” Jasmine compromised.

“Oh! Are you sure?” Embarrassed for how small she was.

“I don’t mind.”

Alice nodded and stood up from her seat and showed Jasmine how to buckle up. Once he was sure they were secure, Sora sat in the front and took off.

Soon enough they came across Monstro but was expertly evaded. The girls were grateful for their restraints!

Jasmine has never felt such a rush!

Eventually, they started orbiting over Atlantica.

“Hmm…” Sora glanced back at them, deep in thought.

“Sora?” Kairi asked.

“Oh, just thinking. Here is Ariel and Ursula’s world. With hopefully Ursula as one of your soon-to-be teachers. She controls the Heartless here and King Trident has a good grasp on the Heartless around the Palace making the whole area safe.”

Kairi’s eyes widened. “You mean..?”

“Would you ladies like to join me on this trip?”

Excited gasps met his ears and he smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Irony is Goofy protecting Sora from Riku throwing Dark Fire at him. Now, Goofy protecting Riku!


End file.
